The Five-Foot Monster, The Jomagu Legend (2)

Lee Ha-neul was confident.

Though momentarily daunted by Jomagu’s house-sized bulk,

It was merely a Grade 7 yokai in the end.

Yogi measured strength.

She was a nationally certified Martial Artist, an expert in yokai extermination.

While Jomagu’s abnormally gigantic size exceeded a typical Grade 7 yokai,

As a Martial Artist capable of exterminating even Grade 3 yokai without issue,

Ha-neul had no reason to cower.

Moreover, she sensed none of the presence of mind that Miho possessed within this ‘Jomagu’.

Ha-neul did not hesitate.

Channeling force into her legs, she leapt forth and struck Jomagu’s neck with a force-imbued elbow.

Kwaaang!

The explosive impact echoed throughout the mountain.

A Martial Artist’s force was an amalgamation of immense physical power.

Though unable to incinerate yogi like martial force could,

It was an overwhelming power that could readily annihilate a Grade 7 yokai in a single blow.

Strange.

Despite taking Ha-neul’s force-imbued strike directly, Jomagu showed no signs of injury – not even a fractured neck or pained reaction.

Without so much as a scream, its size merely diminished slightly.

Instead, Jomagu charged ravenously at Ha-neul.

Gulping,

As Jomagu opened its beak wide enough to swallow an entire tree,

Ha-neul retreated hastily, beads of cold sweat forming.

Kwadeurdeurdeuk!

Where Ha-neul had been standing, around five trees had vanished without a trace, as if felled by a lumberjack.

Those massive trees had been wholly devoured by Jomagu’s belly.

Fortunately, consuming trees did not seem to increase its size.

‘This… how can this be a Grade 7 yokai…!’

Had Kim Myeong-ho perhaps misjudged Jomagu’s yogi?

While resenting the innocent fox fanatic Kim Myeong-ho, Ha-neul focused her mind and began channeling martial force into her palms.

This was no ordinary opponent.

She needed to unleash her martial force –

The power to incinerate yogi.

Soon after, Ha-neul charged at Jomagu like a bullet and swung her force-imbued palms.

Gulp.

[Delicious.]

“…Huh?”

The martial force she had channeled into her palms had vanished.

With no time to be taken aback, Ha-neul crouched defensively in anticipation of Jomagu’s next attack.

Woooooosh!

Cutting through the air, Jomagu swung its massive tailfeathers at Ha-neul.

An unavoidable strike.

After devouring Ha-neul’s martial force, Jomagu’s size had grown even more, throwing off her distance calculations.

Struck squarely by Jomagu’s tailfeathers, Ha-neul spun through the air several times before slamming into a tree.

“Nnnghhh…”

Though her force had protected her from serious injury,

Ha-neul glanced back.

There, the six-tailed fox yokai Miho was observing her battle with Jomagu, a concerned look on her face – as if asking, ‘Shall I help?’

[Then let me handle this. You just watch, Miho.]

Ha-neul recalled the words she had spoken to Miho just moments ago.

‘Dammit…!’

Even if it meant dying here,

She could not ask Miho for help.

Brushing off the dirt, Ha-neul rose and channeled martial force into her palms once more.

Martial force was the power to incinerate yogi.

Jomagu devouring her martial force had been a fluke.

A yokai capable of consuming martial force?

She had never witnessed nor heard of such a thing before.

Her judgment was sound.

---

I observed Ha-neul’s battle with Jomagu intently.

It was certain.

After devouring Ha-neul’s ‘martial force’,

This Jomagu yokai had grown even larger.

The means by which yokai acquire yogi varies between individuals.

In my case, it involved devouring human males’ livers or absorbing their vitality.

Depot absorbed lightning during thunderstorms, while Old Monk Bangta gained yogi by carrying infants in his bamboo backpack.

As for this Jomagu yokai, it seemed that ‘consuming anything’ allowed it to simultaneously acquire yogi and increase its body size.

Come to think of it,

Even for me, the more tails I manifested, the taller I grew and… well, everything grew larger along with it.

Likely the same principle.

“…”

No.

Wait a moment.

Upon closer observation, that was not the case either.

From the moment I had first encountered it until now, with its size having grown about 1.5 times larger,

Jomagu’s yogi had not increased at all.

Could it be…

That no matter how much it consumed, only its size grew while its yogi remained stagnant…?

What sort of yokai in this world possessed such an ability?

This was clearly a mismatch against me.

If human combatants had taken the field against Jomagu from the start instead of Ha-neul and me,

Unleashing a hail of gunfire and bombardments,

Its size would never have grown so monstrously, I felt.

In that sense,

Despite possessing formidable yogi, I, who lacked any physical offensive power, could contribute nothing to this battle.

So I cheered Ha-neul on from afar:

“Keep attacking! Don’t use your martial force! Fighting!”

“Gaah… You could at least lend me a hand instead of just standing there! Help me, please!”

Huh?

I never expected her to actually ask me for help, but in the end, she did.

However, I regretfully had no way to assist her, much as I wanted to.

“In any case, I’m just a feeble yokai with only yogi at my disposal, so helping would be pointless.”

“You damned fox yokai!”

After venting her resentment towards me, Ha-neul seemed intent on relieving her stress, proceeding to pummel Jomagu relentlessly like a rabid mutt.

Indeed, as a Martial Artist capable of exterminating even Grade 3 yokai,

Once she realized through experience that she must not use her martial force against Jomagu, its enormous size no longer posed a threat.

No, its enlarged surface area made it easier for her strikes to land.

With every blow Ha-neul landed, Jomagu’s bulk shrank further.

[Hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry!]

Jomagu began lamenting its hunger more desperately.

Eventually,

[I’m hungry.]

A glint flashed in Jomagu’s eyes.

Sensing an ominous chill down my spine through animalistic instinct,

I swiftly used my Fox Fire to snatch Ha-neul away, distancing her from Jomagu.

“F, Fire? Hot!”

“It’s not hot.”

“…You’re right, it’s not hot. But that’s not the point… Why did you interfere when I nearly had it?”

“I didn’t interfere, I saved you.”

“What’s that even supposed to…”

“Over there.”

Wordlessly, I pointed at Jomagu.

In the direction I indicated,

Jomagu was indiscriminately devouring the surrounding trees to further increase its size.

[Trees are edible too.]

After martial force and yogi,

It had begun perceiving even trees as food.